Mechanical Hearts
by dciphoenix
Summary: Lily has never met an android, she's never wanted to. But when her parents journey off-world for work for the renowned giant Weyland Yutani, who so happen have their hooks in the creation of synthetic robotic life. What happens next she could never have foretold.


_Year 2178_

 _Faryar_

 _Hourglass Nebula_

Lily yawns widely, despite it only being the mid afternoon. Beside her, a plump middle aged woman occupies a chair. A pair of spindly reading spectacles perch on the bridge of her nose, her hair in a tousled bun. A transparent card hangs off a black lanyard from around her pale neck, displaying a photo of her, next to a security tag and displaying her name as Erica. Her lips are pursed, as if she had been sucking on lemons all night.

"Amelia. Please, don't be rude." She says, and Lily's face twists in disgust. It was never Amelia. Always Lily. It earns an eye roll from her, facing the wall. Lily pastes on the best fake apology face she could muster, complete with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I thought it'd be all over by now." She moans before turning to face the opaque glass door. Both her parents had been ignorant enough for the both of them to get jobs on the same Weyland Yutani interstellar spacecraft. Meaning she would be left alone. Unchaperoned. Unsupervised for several months until they returned. It's a good job they will be up there making a ton of cash otherwise, they would be in so much trouble when they came back.

Getting up, Erica checks her watch and crosses the room. A look of faint annoyance crosses her features. She disappears into the room beyond for several minutes, causing Lily to groan and slip down into her chair, closing her eyes, blissfully turning the whole world to black.

"Lily." Lily cracks open one eye, unsure, unsettled by the sweetness in Erica's voice. She's in the doorway, holding it open a crack. "You can go in, now." Erica ushers her into the office beyond the door.

Lily swallows a lump in her throat, peeping into the room. A lungful of breath pushes apart her lips before she can say anything. She didn't know what she was expecting. But she wasn't expecting...this. Across the room in a tired arm chair neatly, he sits. His brown hair swept back from his angled face, pretty blue eyes, and fair skin.

"Hello," he says, politely, now standing. Clearly animated by her arrival. "My name is Ed. You must be Amelia." Ed speaks, putting out his hand, coming a little closer.

She looks at his hand like it is made out of dog food. "Nobody calls me Amelia. It's Lily." Lily openly gripes.

"Oh." Ed says in a way that is heartfelt to a point she is not expecting. "My apologies. That wasn't in the file." He removes his hand from the air between them.

"Hm." Lily replies unimpressed, huffing out a sigh. She looks around, a wooden desk stands in front of her all expertly organised, keyboard, mouse and top notch PC, less than five inches from each others. It would give Dad and his OCD a run for his money for sure... Not a bunny of dust in sight, she eyes his tall bookshelf half interested. Shelved with books on psychology, and the human body mixed in with meditative practices. The only thing out of place is a snow globe. Lily picks it up, finds it is weighty, the likeness of a high-rise building she'd never seen before. Giving it a feeble shake, fake snow swirls violently, slows then leisurely flutters down. On the mount, underneath embossed in gold is a Weyland Corporate logo. She swiftly puts it down.

Turns her attentions to Ed. "We are staying in my house right? You can have my parents room. They won't mind. I mean, I don't think..." Lily shrugs, her hands thrust into her pockets, suddenly uncomfortable. She didn't like feeling like that. When was the time she felt like that?

What he said next, she didn't expect either. "I am here at your leisure. The company sent me to make your life a little easier. I can't do that it you're unhappy." He says, smiling.

It should give her the creeps. Make her blood run cold, prickle the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. But instead Lily finds herself smiling back.

She takes Ed to her favorite noodle outlet underneath a giant plastic tarp of a bright Japanese flag. Chowing down on a hot bowl of Vietnamese rice noodles, perfect seasoned with garlic and herbs. He does too, though she wonders why. For her comfort maybe? Or simply because he could? Waiting for her to start the conversation, she starts to talk about parents and her discontent on being left alone.

She wipes her mouth with a napkin. "What if you malfunction? Like if you get hacked and go berserk?" Brows furrowed, she asks.

What the hell does 'Ed' stand for anyway?

He listens, patiently, arms folded.

"That isn't possible." Ed replies, "There are certain measures in place to ensure such a thing does not happen."

Once she'd overheard Dad with a work colleague discussing an android going homicidal on a commercial freighter a few decades ago. He's a technician for the company, privy to all sorts of info bytes, and he found the information in a encrypted cache at work. Or so he said. They promised each other never to tell in fear of being fired by the company. Or worse.

She chews thoughtfully, finishing the meal in silence.

It starts to rain thereafter, Lily doesn't mind it. She always liked the rain. It made her feel clean. Reminded her of old Earth in the vids. Although, he fusses, dismisses the chef tossing a wok full of egg noodles and pays him handsomely with a credit chip. Alerting a passing cab, they ride home. The electronic engine hums gently. She wonders if he can feel it, make sense of the noise. But she says nothing, it's not a question for a stranger to ask. Buildings and rock formations whizz by in grey-green blur.

The sun had since set while she's been out, the night settled in, revealing the bright twin moons beyond the rain clouds. She climbs out of the cab, hurriedly making it to her front door Lily uses her thumb print to open the damn thing, it hisses open without a hitch and retracts for them both. It locks again with a whir. Her feet clack against the corrugated metal floor, being one with the walls and ceiling.

Wrings her wet hair onto the floor, she enters the room she calls her bedroom. Throwing off her coat onto her single bed. White, sterile. The metal walls above decorated with paper posters of classic rock bands and smiling photos of her family. Lily undresses and slips into her nightwear, black lounge pants and a charcoal Weyland tee her Dad nicked from work before he set off.

"Do you need anything? Want me to tuck you in?" He asks effortlessly. She's startled by the lack of noise, able to stop her bones from leaping out of her skin.

"I'm not that young… And no, I'm fine, thank you." He's pleased with her answer, nods once and turns to leave until she calls him back, sitting up. "Do you sleep?" Lily asks.

"I don't." He smiles, "Though I do imitate sleeping. It gives me time to allow my internal current and motor functions to power down for the evening."

"Cool." Lily half smiles, he wishes her a pleasant sleep and leaves. She waves a hand over the florescent lamp by her bedside, turning it off and plunging the room into darkness.

"So…?" A voice persists in her ears.

"So?" Lily imitates, her shoulders hunched, hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. Deep in thought. She'd invited herself round to Catherine's. Her Dad is cool, works as a mechanic for Weyland Yutani on the colony. Lily had always felt welcome there. She guesses he likes seeing his kid talk to more than his dumb face every day. It helps he makes tuna casserole whenever she visits which was stupidly delicious.

"What's be like? Mr. Robot?" Her friends asks impulsively.

Lily frowns. "Don't call him that." She hits back, a little too easily.

"Okay. What's your _new friend_ like?" Terse, she tries to push again.

Lily sips her hot chocolate. It's sweet, probably made out of more sugar than cocoa but it's better than nothing. "He's nice." It's the truth, there was nothing wrong with him, everything was alright, almost perfect.

Since Lily was told she was getting a surrogate parent for a few months, she lashed out, she hated the thought, and planned for weeks on end on how she was going to make his life miserable as could be. But she never counted on actually liking him and finding him attractive even.

"You didn't want to like him, huh?" Cath says, reclines in her seat. Smug, Cath's eyebrows head for her hairline.

"Mm. I know." And Cath knew, too. She'd known her since forever, gone to the school with her on the base, when they were young, and both similar aged. Lily always remembered her. Fortunate to find a friend she didn't need contact and repetitive interaction with. Years later, Lily only had to her look at her or speak less than five words to convey what she was thinking. It was like she was a mind reader or they were separated at birth. Apart from Cath having icey blonde hair and a freckled face whereas Lily did not.

Cath folds her arms, sensing her thoughts again probably. Lily thinks to have to pack a tin foil hat and wear it whenever they met up in future if that was the case. "You have a thing about him, don't you?" She asks, strangely not as eager as she could have.

Lily snuggles down further into the padded khaki coat, the turned down faux fur hood warming her chin gruellingly feeling the cold. The few days that passed did so without a fault, he cooked and cleaned. He conversed with her in ways she occasionally forgot what he really was. It should have been maddening, but she wasn't.

She never could keep anything from Cath.

…..

"Can I touch you?" She asks, almost faultless. Face relaxed, mouth half open.

There's more important things on her mind than mouth closing. He closes his book slowly over a finger, probably some hum drum shit about some a battle in history or a scientist she's never bloody heard of.

Watching his face intimately, she follows his every move. Eventually he raises an eyebrow, curiosity getting the better of him. If that was as in his nature. She should ask him about that one day.

"And why, pray tell, do you wish to touch my face?" Ed dutifully asks.

"Because I've never touched a synthetic's face, that's why. You think I can just go up to one in the middle of the street and start fondling them?" She splutters, half taken a back.

Unimpressed, he opens his mouth then closes it. Tilts his head to one side, like he is studying her, a painting, a sculpture made by the hands of an artist he wished to fully understand. There's a finality when he closes his eyes and tuts in a way much too human for her liking.

Damn, they really were getting good at making them more human…

"Go on, then, get it over with." He says, low and rough.

Lily looks down, climbs onto the sofa, kneels on the seat next to him and folds herself onto it like a coiled spring. She licks her lips, her interest peaking. Her fingers tingling expediently when she reaches over, ignores the tremor in her wrist and gently brushes the backs of her fingers down his cheek, she does it again. Paying attention to his skin, the warmth from within. There's a softness to his synthetic skin there that's familiar yet unable to compare to anything.

"That's so weird," She says, half to herself, "You don't have any pores."

"Hmm, synthetics have no use for pores, since we don't sweat or use an adrenaline reliant flight or fight response when we feel threatened by something." He replies, bluntly.

She nods, decides she likes that.

Lily returns her hands to his face, down his neck, moves over to his throat. Presses her fingertips a little harder against his thorax, not too hard to unnerve him. She finds no beat or pulse of life. It's uite fitting really, no-one would be as weird as her to be that close to a synthetic to notice these things. Lily takes away her hands and sits further back on her heels.

What would it be like to kiss him? Her heart batters against her chest, so hard, she thought for a minute he would hear warming cruelly, she considers not asking him for a moment. But only for a moment.

"Could you kiss me?" She offers.

He blinks rapidly, his face jerks in response and swears she sees the cogs in him start to run. "I don't think that's a very good idea." He informers her, flatly. She watches his eyes dart to anywhere but her.

"Come on, please. There's nothing to it." She grabs him by the arm and her stomach flutters in response, like a warning. A security breach, her inside voice happily chortles to itself. Lily pulls herself closer and plants one on him. It's over in less than two seconds. "You see?"

He shifts, his motors for a brain whirring with an abundance of information no doubt. "That was inappropriate." He says softly.

Lily releases her hold on him, eases back, a false proclamation of surrender. "I thought you were thrown my way to make me happy? If you don't do this for me, you'll be making me unhappy. Do you want that?"

Like a hungry animal circling his prey, he locks eyes with her. Looks at her in a way that it feels he's trying to read her soul. To salvage information to relay for a speedy kill or an effective retreat. He takes her wrists in his hands and encloses his fingers around each, not much louder than falling snow.

Lily's chest tightens, forcing herself to holds her breath to lock onto any noise from him, dizzy from the lack of any.

And like that, he kisses her. Slow and trusting. His mouth is tight against hers, he applies just as much pressure as she did. It is almost methodical, esoteric in nature. He breaks away almost as soon as it had started.

Lily finds herself leaning in for more, she'd developed a taste for something so familiar yet different. She catches him again, unaware. Kissing him again, his jaw slack and half open. His mouth is warmer than before and slick from his wet tongue. How, she didn't know. She would note to ask him later if she wasn't half prone over him. His beautiful long fingered hands are still snug around hers. It heats her and pools moisture between her thighs, while he's probably reading her body language, her breathing, her heart rate.

"That's enough." He breaks away, and she shrinks away from the fire in his eyes.

She could cut the atmosphere with a knife after that. Keeping his distance from her, Ed was still making her food and repairing any malfunctioning tech that was left hanging around the house. On the flip side, those were the only times he spoke to her too, all the other hours of the day, instead he went through the basement and tore apart the wiring. A thankless task. But the lights were unusually bright after he did that. Even if it meant she was smelling the acrid stench of burnt rubber for hours afterwards.

Dressed in sweats and trainers, Lily heads for the door, datapad in hand, the blue light illuminating her face in an eerie glow. She stops and looks up to find him standing nearby, an impenetrable wall. A shadow crossing his face, looking her up and down. Knowing fine well what he is going to say before he comes out with it. Lily bypasses him, moves into the kitchen area grabbing a piece of cornbread out of the bread bin and nibbling on it.

"Where do you think you're going?" He says frowning.

"I like to go out for a run every day. Keeps me active." Lily says over her shoulder. Affixing her wireless earphones in before attaching the velcro strap around the meat of her bicep, placing the mini datapad in there. Giving it a tug to make sure it's safe. She turns to look at him.

He's still frowning, but now it's turned more into a look of warning. Effortlessly, he comes over and places herself directly in her path. Lily sighs noisily, opening her mouth. "What?!"

"Don't be out long. It'll be dark soon. Then you should know there is rain forecast for today at approximately 17 degrees. " He does that soul-searching thing again, makes her stomach flutter and knees wobble like jelly and for a minute she almost imagines his eyes look a little sad. Almost. "It's my job to keep you safe." A chill passes through her at the possibility of him missing her.

"Well, you don't have to tell me twice. And I won't." The residential district sits in the valley of the vast landscape, full of feral wilderness, and rock formations carved by the hands of environments long since gone, taller than some of the biggest skyscrapers back on Earth. A constant reminder that humans were only guests and not the residents of this world no matter how many people come to inhabit it.

The housing units jut out on the around a bend in the land, creating an anomaly between the brown terrain and the opal blue-green skies. Almost like someone had broken open an old Earth rubix cube and fashioned each piece into homes for the colonists. Streetlights, pale and thin, with upturned lights stand like soldiers at attention. At least twenty of them at strategic points, almost one for every house. Highlighting the bushes and the road.

Lily stretches, picks up her chest out of her waist, lengthening her spine, she shifts her weight from one outstretched foot then switching and doing the same with the other. Enjoys the pull and rush of blood before starting off on a light jog. Stretching was never her bag, even when she was young girl, instead jumping the gun and choosing to run. She keeps on her toes, sticks to the dirt path the side of the road. Regulates her breathing, keeps it steady, in and out through her nose, like a piston. Careful not to tap out too early. Useful rule of thumb to prevent herself from overheating that way. As enjoyable as showers were, having one with a pretty android walking around her home didn't seem like a good plan.

Lily slows down. But he was handsome, wasn't he?

She had hated the idea; an android coming to stay for a while and not just during the day either, she had argued with her parents why she couldn't go stay with Cath and her dad instead. Especially seeing as she was eighteen in a few months, anyway.

A cold droplet of water runs down her cheek, then another on her scalp then her shoulder. They double and multiply, the only thought going through her head was promising Ed she'd be home before it bloody rained. Wasn't that the truth?

Turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees, Lily dives for cover, nears the edge of the path where the vegetation grew thickest. She storms home, dodging the newly offensive rain, running back the way she came. Abandoning the day's plans for comfort. By the time she'd makes it home, her clothes are drenched, and dripping with water. Her once white trainers,now caked in dirt and her hair had plastered itself down to her head.

Ed had a face just as thunderous as the weather outside. "I told you-"

"I know, I know. Just pass me a towel or something, alright?" She shrugs off her clothes, untangles her hair from the ponytail she'd tied it in. Stripping down to her sports bra and bare feet Ed comes over and wraps her in a towel twice her size. He vigorously rubs her arms with it, feeling much like a ragdoll in his hands, although she was thankful for the rush of circulation and the stimulation he gives to her muscles. "That feels nice." She hums.

Ed slows then starts on her shoulders and neck, moving in small, circular movements before swapping to her stomach and sides, open and exposed for once. He locks eyes with her, and scans for any discomfort or approval. "You should go get a shower. You'd warm up faster."

"I'd warm up faster if I went to bed." Lily answers back.

She changes into warmer clothes in the comfort of her bedroom; leaving the sodden clothes in an oozing heap on the bathroom floor. She shrugs on her pyjamas from the day before; going for comfort over hygiene and a pair of warm, fuzzy bed socks. The cold weather leaves a chill in her bones that she couldn't quite shake.

With his eyes shut, Ed is the very image of peace and serenity and for a minute she wonders what goes through that manufactured brain of his. Staying on her toes, Lily turns out the light and slips into the bed, deathly silent, with as much grace as a panther. Reaches a hand to grip the straight bed sheets, and slips into the bed.

"What are you doing?" He asks, no hint of annoyance in his quiet voice. Lily, on the other hand mentally cursing at the room being too dark to see his face, and wishing that she could.

"Nothing." Face muffled somewhat by the pillow she says, "Bend your knees," After a sigh, he obliges. "Now roll over so you're facing me." He does with a bounce of the mattress and insistent apologising for disturbing her as his shins brush against hers. "That's better." She says, smiling to herself and she snuggles to his side, curling her arm around his.

He stays rigid like that until her face is void of his weighted hand. In the poor light, she makes out the faint outline of it inches from his face, giving it the third degree, the ones and zeros in his head deciding for him. Evidently decided on his action, he slides it over her side and around her waist.

"What are you doing?" She asks, not forgetting be had just asked her the same exact thing.

"Oh. I am sorry, it it makes you uncomfortable…" He replies.

"No." She challenges. "It's nice."


End file.
